Jim Ross Admits Michael Cole Outshines Him in Commentary

Michael Cole has been part of the WWE family for several years now and is viewed as the voice of the company. He had to face a lot of hardships during the early years of his WWE tenure and Jim Ross believes Cole is better at WWE commentary than he was.

Jim Ross earned widespread recognition as a commentator with WWE. Despite his dedicated efforts and contributions, he never fully gained Vince McMahon’s favor, but he can always empathize with what Michael Cole went through as well.

In the 1990s, Jim Ross and Michael Cole were positioned against each other when Cole replaced Ross, a key figure of the Attitude Era, on commentary while Ross was dealing with Bell’s palsy. Although Ross eventually returned, the situation remained tense both on-screen and behind the scenes, eventually becoming part of the storyline.

Michael Cole reflected on this period in an interview with Bryan Curtis of The Ringer, explaining that he was placed in a challenging position when he started with the company. He was brought in to succeed what he described as the greatest wrestling announcer of all time, Jim Ross.

“When I started with the company, I was in a no-win situation. I was brought in to be the heir apparent of probably the greatest wrestling announcer of all time, Jim Ross.”

Jim Ross noted that Michael Cole was essentially put in his chair during his absence due to his health issues. The tension between Jim Ross and Michael Cole intensified during the 2008 WWE Draft when Cole was transferred to Raw and Ross was moved to SmackDown, a change neither man had been informed about beforehand. Ross mentioned that Cole faced early criticism because people believed he was taking over Ross’s job.

“People didn’t like him from the beginning because they thought he was taking my job.”

Eventually, Ross left WWE and joined AEW, while Cole continued as the lead announcer for WWE. Ross acknowledged Cole’s performance, stating that Cole does his job today better than Ross did his own during that period.

“He does his job today better than I did my job then.”

Michael Cole also inked a new deal with WWE earlier this year. As WWE prepares to enter new era with its move to Netflix, Michael Cole will continue to perform his duties to the best of his ability and Jim Ross couldn’t be happier for him.

Do you agree with what Jim Ross had to say about Michael Cole’s ability as a WWE commentator? Sound off in the comments section below!